The “Green New Deal,” unveiled today, sets sky-high goals to cut greenhouse gases to nearly zilch — but it’s not committed to getting rid of “farting cows” just yet.
That’s according to an initial outline of the ambitious new resolution put forward by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., which aims to fundamentally reimagine the U.S. economy with the environment at top of mind.
Markey and Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old democratic socialist, called for completely ditching fossil fuels, upgrading or replacing “every building” in the country and “totally overhaul transportation” to the point where “air travel stops becoming necessary.”
They also aimed to have the U.S. creating “net-zero” greenhouse gases in 10 years.
Why “net zero”? The lawmakers explained: “We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”
Greenhouse gas emissions from cows have a bigger environmental impact than one might expect.
Methane gas produced by bovine flatulence contributes a significant portion of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, according to the United Nations.
Livestock farming produces about 18 percent of all those environmentally damaging gases — and about a quarter of that chunk comes from cow farts and burps, the U.N. says.
The lawmakers appear to recognize this.
One of the Green New Deal’s 14 infrastructure and industrial proposals is to “work with farmers and ranchers to create a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system that ensures universal access to healthy food and expands independent family farming.”
Eliminating America’s nearly 100 million cows, and with it all those hamburgers and steaks, seems like a far-fetched idea.
The proposed House resolution is just 14 pages in length that suggests a framework for future policy.
Included in its wish-list are a transition to 100 per cent electric cars and replacing all airplane travel with high-speed trains.
“That would be pretty hard for Hawaii,’ Sen. Mazie Hirono, from the Aloha State, pointed out today.
The plan’s proponents are not, however, interested in expanding the use of nuclear power plants in order to offset fossil fuels.
Instead, they aim to dismantle the existing plants.
“It’s unclear if we will be able to decommission every nuclear plant within 10 years, but the plan is to transition off of nuclear and all fossil fuels as soon as possible,” they write.
The package includes $4.6 trillion in new government spending on infrastructure projects aiming “to remove greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from every sector of our economy.”
The announcement of the Green New Deal came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped eight Democrats to serve on a special committee to address climate change.
Ocasio-Cortez was not among those named to the panel, which is chaired by Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.
Ocasio-Cortez said Pelosi invited her to join the panel but she declined, saying she wants to focus on the Green New Deal and other committee assignments.
Pelosi said today she hadn’t seen the Green New Deal proposal but welcomes ‘the enthusiasm’ of its backers.
The condemnation against the proposal was swift today as conservatives and right-wing news outlets slammed the plan.
The Trump administration does not believe action on climate change is necessary and is focused on increasing production of oil, gas and coal on federal and private land.